


The Artefact

by TheW0rldAsSeenInBaybayin



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Crossover, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Historical, Historical Artifacts, MacGuffins, Other Characters Are Mentioned, Pseudo-History, References to Canon, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheW0rldAsSeenInBaybayin/pseuds/TheW0rldAsSeenInBaybayin
Summary: The Artefact—Object 47 to some, the Holy Relic by others—is an enigma, a quandary, a MacGuffin of sorts passed down through the centuries and handed over between countless governments and nations in an ever-continuing quest to figure out its true purpose.  In the mysterious, changing world that is Earth, with the machinations of the powers that be throughout the Cold Wars and the conflicts in-between, more than a few familiar faces have granted this oracular object with their presence...
Kudos: 2





	The Artefact

**Germany, 1945**

The earliest known record of the Artefact dates back to the latter stages of the Second World War, shortly after the fall of the Rhine to Allied Forces in 1944. Under the command of Lieutenant William Pearson, the First Infantry Division was approaching the border of Czechoslovakia when they unexpectedly encountered an abandoned German facility. 

_A distinct square-shaped base surrounded with barbed wire, a single electric fence, and guard towers upon every corner and between every gate, with one entrance for each side. Barracks on the northwest and northeast corners of the base, an armory to the southwest, a mess hall in the southeast, and a tall rectangular building at the very center—the headquarters, perhaps. Maybe something inside would tell what this place was; it certainly wasn’t a concentration camp, that’s for sure._

Investigations produced no valuable intel, but a small team led by Corporal Ronald Daniels uncovered a vault discreetly hidden underneath the main building. Proceeding to breach the facility, the platoon found one particular item of interest:

_A few explosive charges and some hammering of Pierson’s rifle on the door later, and the whole thing came open. Quite satisfying, seeing several tons of circular steel pop open from its container and swing outwards onto the hallway. Rifles at the ready, Stiles and I slowly stepped in._

_The entire safe was bare of objects and furniture save for a small, concrete stand up to my waist in height, and as seemingly as solid as the walls of the vault itself. Right on top was some particularly odd object that soon drew the attention of every single person in the platoon: a small, cylindrical tube twice the size of a shotgun shell, encased in a layer of what looked like titanium. On both ends was a circular, ringed depression—was it a button? An opening of some kind? I reached out to take it, but Pierson quickly grabbed my arm before I could snatch it from the surface. Said it might be rigged or some high-yield explosive, and he might be right—we don’t know what it is, and no one seems to have any idea on what to do with it. We’ve sent Howard and a bunch of other engineers to check it out, and maybe see if we can safely transport it back to Allied Command._

_It seemed odd that such an item would be left unattended by the Nazis, considering the size and strength of such a large safe. We’d better keep an eye out, just in case they suddenly turn up and ask us to give them their trinket back._

Daniels’s hunch would be ultimately proven correct roughly a week later, when the division was ambushed by Nazi forces at the border town of Selb. Records of the encounter are scarce and of poor quality, but personal diaries by Daniels suggest counterintelligence forces and shock troopers—the Schutzstaffel, likely—were involved. The assault was ultimately repulsed, but at great cost—the 1st Division took on numerous casualties and several members of the platoon itself were wounded, Daniels himself included. Upon retaking their base of operations in the town itself, the Artefact was nowhere to be found; it was of the mutual belief of Pierson and Daniels that the attack was intended solely to retrieve the object from Allied possession. 

While this indicated that the mystery object was of significant importance to the Germans, the division, however, was not reassigned by Allied Command to pursue the fleeing forces; instead, they continued on their march into Czechoslovakia, where they would remain until the war’s conclusion combing the concentration camps in the region. No further action was taken on the matter by Allied Command; it is believed that the likelihood of some unforeseen German weapon to counteract the Allied and Soviet advance at such a late stage in the conflict was deemed minimal, if even worthwhile considering the state of the German armies at that point—an assessment that the discovery of Nova-6 would later disprove.

Interestingly enough, a personal diary by one Viktor Reznov prior to the Battle of Berlin recalls an encounter with a similarly described group, making mention of what scholars suspect to be the Artefact:

 _Marching along the outskirts of Berlin, we came across a small group of heavily armed soldiers making their way towards the heart of the city. Recognizing them for the Nazis, I ordered Dmitri to fire his tank at the center of the crowd, and my men followed suit._ _The Germans had clearly been caught by surprise by our advance, and were no match for our firepower and our resolve. Within minutes, they had been completely and utterly obliterated, and we began to scour the field for survivors.  
_

_I heard a shout from Dmitri, who motioned me over towards one particular corpse; while no less mangled as the rest, his neat and well-trimmed uniform clearly marked him as one of the SS. Come to think of it, the uniforms of most if not all of the soldiers we slaughtered on that street were more clean-cut and polished than most of the Germans we encountered within the Reich itself. Whoever we killed, they must have been important—all the better too; their loss is our gain._

_Tucked into his arm was a small metallic case, sealed shut with a pair of thick locks. Searching his body, we found the keys and prized open the container; inside was a thin, cylindrical tube smaller than the palm of my hand. It felt warm to the touch despite the shiny lustre of the thing and the cold of the dusk air. Placing it into my pocket, we proceeded to search the deceased officer and retrieved some vague papers of some kind of microscript; hopefully someone high up will be able to understand what it says._

_Perhaps if we hadn’t been so quick to fire at the enemy, we might have been able to tell who they were and what brought them here. But what’s done is done, and the enemy earned what they deserved_ — _SS or not, they were Nazis, and only death awaits those who march with the Reich._

Shortly after sending his findings to Soviet Command, Reznov was abruptly transferred to the ill-fated Nova Project, before being ultimately imprisoned in Vorkuta immediately afterwards. He died during an escape attempt in 1963.


End file.
